Mali aka Maalavika Manoj is an Indian singer, songwriter and composer and a famous pop artist. She has collaborated with many famous names like AR Rahman, Sofia Ashraf and many others. Mali has many singles and several albums to her credit and is a well-known Indian name in the English music genre.
Wiki/Biography
Mali was born on Wednesday, September 15, 1993, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (30 years old as of 2023). Her zodiac sign is Virgo. She grew up in Tamil society and was nicknamed “Mali”.
Mali as a baby
Mali was educated at Lady Andal School (1997-2001) and Sacred Heart Preparatory School (2001-2010), Kaiyuni, Tamil Nadu. She attended Loyola College, Chennai, where she pursued a bachelor’s degree in business administration. To this end, she studied at the IÉSEG Management School in France for one year (mid-2013) and obtained a degree in Business Administration/Management. After leaving France, she returned to Chennai and obtained her graduation degree from Loyola College. Thereafter, Mali migrated to Mumbai hoping to try music as a career.
Mali’s childhood
Mari’s parents were avid music listeners. They would listen to songs from the 1970s and 1980s, which made her fall in love with music. Her family gatherings were usually filled with singing and her grandfather played the harmonica. He also introduced her to jazz.
Mari’s Insta post talks about her grandfather’s role in her singing career
Later, Mali listened to a lot of electronic music. When she was 5 years old, her parents enrolled her in different art classes such as Bharatanatyam, painting, swimming and piano lessons; however, she insisted on taking piano lessons and gave up other classes. Mali started making music when she was 16 years old. Seventeen years later, Mali signed up for guitar classes.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′1″
Weight (approximately): 50kg
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family
Mali comes from a Malayali family in North Malabar.
Parents and siblings
Mali’s father’s name is MC Manoj and her mother’s name is Asha Meenakshi Manoj.
Mali’s mother Asha Meenakshi Manoj
Mali’s father MC Manoj
Mari has a brother. His name is Kartik Manoj.
Mari’s brother Kartik Manoj;
Mali family portrait
husband and children
Mari is unmarried and has no children.
other relatives
Her grandfather MC Rammohan played harmonica and harmonica in the Black and White band in Chennai in the 1950s. He no longer exists.
Mari and her grandfather
Relationships/Affairs
Mali’s relationship lasted until 2020, for which she also released a song titled “Ashes.” Talking about the track, she said,
This song talks about a very difficult breakup I went through two years ago. After it happened, we didn’t speak to each other for a while so that we could heal…it was during this time that I felt a huge connection to my ex because it felt like we were both sharing an experience, except we separated. The song is actually an open letter to him asking how things are going and explaining my side of the situation. “
Signature/Autograph
Profession
singer and songwriter
Mali’s songs combine iconic pop music from the 1960s and 1970s (The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, etc.) with indie and electronic pop styles from the 1980s and beyond. Her music career started when she formed “Bass-in-Bridge” for the Chennai Live Band Search Competition sponsored by Radio Chennai. As the lead singer of the band, Mali became famous after “Bass-in-Bridge” was a finalist in the competition. After performing in various bars, events and festivals, the band disbanded in 2011.
Mari in the Band, Band-in-Bridge
In 2012, Mali’s first film song “Come On Girls” was released, composed by Anirudh Ravichander. She appeared in several songs and performed in different places until the release of her debut album “Deceptive” (6 songs from Band-in-Bridge) in 2013. Now she has chosen her stage name “Mali”.
Live performances in Mali
From 2012 to 2016, she sang some Tamil film songs and worked as a live performer for famous bands and launches until she released her single “Dreaming”. The song was later added to her fifth song EP “Rush”. The duet single “Onnume Aagala” between Mali and Anirudh Ravichander was released on YouTube in 2017 by Sony Music India. The song “Play” was released in 2018 and features his grandfather playing harmonica.
Mari sits with her grandfather. On the right is a photo of her grandfather when he was young, which also became the cover photo of “Play”
In 2022, Mali’s first Bollywood film song “Mange Manzooriyan” was released for the film “Badhaai Ho”.
In 2023, she performed at the Lollapalooza India music festival in Mumbai.
Mali is also a performer at the opening ceremony of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Center in 2023.
In 2023, Mali was selected to represent Apple Music India, demonstrating her music production process to Apple CEO Tim Cook who was visiting India.
Mari posted on Instagram about her meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook
Mali Records
singles
- Poor Girl’s Dream(2017)
- Changing Situations (2017)
- Really? Not Real (2020)
- Sitting on the Fence(2021)
- Semi-Automatic Butane (2023)
- I’ll Never Give Up on You (2023)
- Absolutely (Apple Music Family Sessions) (2023)
- Mundane (Apple Music Family Sessions) (2023)
album
- Deception (Bridge to Bridge) (2013)
- Be careful (2020-2021)
- Apple Music Family Sessions: Mali (2023)
movie songs
- Hello, my name is Marini (2013)
- Mange Manzooriyan (Female) (2020)
Achievement
- The EP’s title track “Rush” ranked second on Rolling Stone India’s “Top 10 Indian Singles of 2017” list.
- The song “Mundane” ranked No. 1 on the 2020 European Independent Music Chart.
Mali posts on Instagram about “Mundane” topping European indie charts
- First Indian artist selected for Spotify’s global RADAR program (2020)
- Appearing on BBC World News with American singer-songwriter Erin Rae
Mali posted on Instagram about her first appearance on BBC World News
- Named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list (2021)
- On the cover of Harper’s Bazaar India (2022)
- Nominated for MTV European Music Awards (2023)
- Featured on the Cover of Wynkmusic’s Indie India Playlist (2021)
Mali posts on Instagram about being on the cover of Wynkmusic’s Indie India playlist
Favorites
- Artists: Stone, Melua, Andrea Cole, Fitzgerald, Sara Bareilles, Courtney Barnett, Emily King
- Songs: “Marry Me” by Alvvays, “At Last” by Archie, Etta James
- Album: Rumor – Fleetwood Mac.
- Instruments: guitar, piano
- City: Santorini, Andaman Islands
- Travel destination: New York, Kerala
Facts/Trivia
- The first song Mali sang was “500 Miles.”
- The first song she wrote was “No Place Like Home.” She wrote this book when she was 16 years old, feeling guilty about something she said to her mother with whom she had a falling out and telling her it was best to live away from home and couldn’t wait for that day to come.
- Mari gave her first singing performance at a school assembly. When she was 12 years old, she performed at a party and improvised a rendition of Ella Fitzgerald’s “Fever” to suit the occasion.
- She has always considered music as a hobby. After graduation, she gave herself six months to try music professionally, and it worked.
- She has worked as a performer at Bacardi Nh7 Weekender and Wembley London.
Mali performs at Bacardi NH7 weekend
- Mari has experienced different types of jobs. In November 2012, she worked as a sales intern at IBM India Private Limited in Chennai for a month; from November 2013 to December 2014, she worked as a chief evangelist at MELT Media Pvt. Ltd., Chennai.
- She established Mali Manoj Music in 2012 in Chennai. It is an independent music company that provides recording services, singing and production.
- She is also a social media intern at Only Much Louder, joining the company in 2015.
- Malians love to drink tea.
Mali posts about her love for tea on Instagram
- Her inspirational artists include Skrillex, Hillsong, AR Rahman, Alanis Morissette, Stevie Nicks, Joss Stone, Norah Jones, Katie Melua, The Carpenters, Ella Fitzgerald, Sara Bareilles, The Corrs, Savage Garden, Backstreet Boys and ABBA.
- Mari performed at a concert called “Thank You for the Music” in honor of Swedish pop supergroup ABBA, one of her favorite bands.
- Mari is a passionate traveler, foodie, and pet lover. She has adopted many cats (Dali, Ollie, Cheeto, Mongo, etc.) and dogs.
Mari and her dog
Some cats adopted in Mali
- Mari said in an interview that her favorite performance stage is Wembley Stadium (SSE Arena), that she would like to collaborate with artist Phoebe Bridgers, and that the music festival she wants to go to is Glastonbury Festival.
- Her grandfather had a great influence on her life and he was her best critic. She always asked his opinion on her songs.
Mali posts about her grandfather on Instagram
- She defines “overthinking” as one of her weaknesses and strengths. Her work is inspired by changes in her life, such as “moving to a new place” or “going through a breakup.” She said in an interview,
…Her real inspiration for making music comes from situations or feelings that really resonate deep within me. “
- Mali follows a non-vegetarian diet.
Mali’s Instagram post on non-veg food
- Drinking is prevalent in Mali, and people often post about drinking on social media.
Mari with a glass of wine
- Mali is also a podcast producer at Indus Vox Media since January 2016. She produces podcasts such as Cyrus Says, Maed In India, Watcha!, Tall Tales and The Paodcast.
- Mali is fluent in English, Tamil and French.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education